Chapter 22: The Vietnam War Years Section 5: The End of the War and Its Legacy

California Academic Standards: 11.9.3 & 11.9.4 11.9 Students analyze U.S. foreign policy since World War II. .3 Trace the origins and geopolitical consequences (foreign and domestic) of the Cold War and containment policy, including the following: The Vietnam War .4 List the effects of foreign policy on domestic policies and vice versa.

Objectives: Following lecture and reading of this section, students will be able to: Describe Nixon’s policy of Vietnamization. Explain the public’s reaction to the Vietnam War during Nixon’s presidency. Trace the end of U.S. involvement and the final outcome in Vietnam. Examine the war’s painful legacy in the United States and Southeast Asia.

Overview: After escalating bombings to achieve “peace with honor,” the Nixon administration negotiated a cease-fire agreement and withdrew U.S. troops from Vietnam in 1973. The painful legacies of the controversial and divisive war still affect American life.

President Nixon and Vietnamization Summer 1969 Nixon begins to withdrawal the first American troops from Vietnam. Even as he removed troops, Nixon wanted to achieve “peace with honor,” a policy some critics charged caused the war to go on even longer than it had to.

Negotiations to end the war reach a deadlock. The U.S. and South Vietnam wanted the current leader of South Vietnam, Nguyen Van Thieu, to remain in power, but the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong wanted Thieu to step aside in favor of coalition government that included the Vietcong.

Nixon initiates a policy of Vietnamization- a gradual withdrawal of U Nixon initiates a policy of Vietnamization- a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and replacement with South Vietnamese troops so South Vietnam would have a more active role in the war. Beginning in August of 1969 and continuing for the next three years the U.S. involvement in Vietnam went from over 500,000 troops to less than 25,000

A key goal of Vietnamization is to achieve “peace with honor.” The goals of peace with honor were: Maintaining U.S. dignity in the face of its withdrawal from the war. Keeping the South Vietnam government in tact.

Even with “peace with honor” as the plan Nixon organized a massive bombing campaign against North Vietnamese supply lines and bases and even bombed the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia because they had a number of Vietcong sanctuaries. Nixon told an aid he wanted the Vietcong to think he was capable of anything.

Trouble Continues on the Home Front Seeking to win support for his war policies, Nixon appealed to what he called the silent majority. The silent majority were the moderate, mainstream Americans who quietly supported Nixon’s strategy.

Events of the war however continued to divide the country. News accounts of the My Lai massacre horrify the American public. In the My Lai Massacre, more than 100 innocent Vietnamese, mostly women and children were killed when U.S. troops under the directive of William Calley Jr. who ordered troops into to the village in the northern part of South Vietnam.

Calley told them to look for Vietcong, when they found no sign of the enemy they killed the villagers, then attempted to cover it up. This incident scared the country’s view and questioned our purpose for involvement. Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia spurs nationwide campus protests.

Nixon invaded Cambodia in order to clear out Vietcong and their supply centers. Upon hearing of the invasion college students across the country erupted in protest. More than 1.5 million students closed down 1,200 college campuses.

Disaster stuck hardest at Kent State University in Ohio, where a student protest led to the burning down of the ROTC building. The mayor called in the National Guard. The protesters began to throw rocks and bottles at them and the National Guardsmen began shooting.

The slaying of student protesters and bystanders at Kent State and Jackson State rocks the nation. The American public generally sided with the National Guard claiming that the protesters got what they deserved. A new group of Americans called the “hardhats” organized a rally in New York City to support the government’s war policies.

Publication of the top secret Pentagon Papers further erodes support for the war as it spelled out the fact that the government had always planned to get into the war and not end it until the North Vietnamese stopped their fight. The Pentagon papers confirmed the government was not honest about its war intentions.

America’s Longest War Ends Nixon bombs the port city of Haiphong in order to stop supplies from China and the Soviet Union from reaching the Vietcong in North Vietnam. Mid 1972 60% of Americans now feel the U.S. should fully withdrawal its troops

After Nixon’s reelection, peace talks break off and U. S After Nixon’s reelection, peace talks break off and U.S. bombings resume. One week before the election of 1972 it was announced that “peace is at hand” The “Christmas bombings,” a bombing campaign against Haiphong and Hanoi in which 100,000 bombs were dropped in 11 days only ceasing on Christmas Day.

After this event everyone wanted peace. In 1973, the U.S. and North Vietnam sign a cease fire agreement, and the last U.S. combat troops withdrew from Vietnam on March 29, 1973 and for America the war was over.

The cease fire collapses, and in 1975 South Vietnam falls to North Vietnam after President Gerald Ford, who replaced Nixon after the Watergate scandal, refuse to involve America in a war that was already over for America.

For North and South Vietnam The War’s Painful Legacy For the U.S. 58,000 killed 365,000 wounded For North and South Vietnam 1.5 million dead Southeast Asia was left extremely unstable leading to further war in Cambodia

Many Americans felt uncomfortable about the government and our unsuccessful war participation. This was the first war America was involved in which did not result in victory. Vietnam veterans received a cold homecoming, and some face difficulties in readjusting to civilian life some having flashbacks and some even committing suicide

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was constructed in 1982 to honor those who served and died or were still missing in action in the Vietnam War. The war’s end ushers in a violent, chaotic period in Southeast Asia. 400,000 south Vietnamese are placed in labor camps

The Khmer Rouge executed many government officials and academics. In Cambodia our invasion opened the door for a civil war in which a communist group known as the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975. The Khmer Rouge executed many government officials and academics. During its reign of terror the Khmer Rouge is believed to have killed about 2 million people. The war still stirs up controversy and led to major U.S. policy changes.

The government abolished the draft and passed the war powers act that stipulated that a president must inform Congress within 48 hours and must not have troops in hostile territory for more than 90 days unless approved by congress. The Vietnam War altered America’s views on their government and its involvement in the world’s affairs. The war diminished American’s feeling of optimism and faith in government felt during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administration.